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After hearing repeated reports from East Coast family members about all of the snow, ice, sleet, and freezing temps they've been enduring [and, dare I say, grumbling about], Portland finally joined the "party" with its own dose of wintery weather this weekend.

This city isn't exactly known for receiving copious amounts of snow--we get rain and the mountains get snow. Then the city dwellers trek out to those mountains to ski, snowboard, and snowshoe. Usually. This winter, thanks to the vast drought across much of the West, there's limited snow on mountain peaks, and instead of living up to its reputations as a rain-soaked city, Portland has boasted 50s and sunny throughout January.

In a sudden turn of events, snow began falling on Thursday and continued to fall on Friday and Saturday, with an added layer of freezing rain topping the snow on Saturday afternoon. The rumors about the city completely shutting down after any snow accumulation were partially true: most residents stayed in all day Sunday, but we really had no choice: ice coated every surface and the temperatures didn't allow for much of a thaw.

But, on Friday, when the snow was just beginning to really fall, the city took on an air of freedom, with people walking in the streets, sledding, throwing half-formed snowballs, and moving slower than normal. Businesses stayed open for part of the day, allowing Justin and I our own snow-day adventure: driving down to The Sudra, a vegan Indian mini-restaurant that we can't get enough of, before I walked/trudged back up to our house, taking it all in with my 20mm lens, until the winds picked up speed and I hurried back with a beet-red face.

The rest of this week's forecast looks like "standard Portland": rain and 40s, but, despite headaches and interruptions, it felt fitting to have our own douse of winter weather. And now, the tulips and forsythia can get back to their regularly scheduled programming.